


The solution to the puzzle.

by Archeste



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28166196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archeste/pseuds/Archeste
Summary: Sometimes when you're considering a problem quiet surroundings are key. Sometimes it just means your inner voice doesn't get drowned out...Is it possible to give your inner voice a cold shower? Asking for a friend?
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Togo Hifumi, Kurusu Akira/Togo Hifumi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	The solution to the puzzle.

Hifumi Togo sat in the pew in the Kanda church and considered her shogi board, deep in thought.

She’d always loved the atmosphere of the church. It was a quiet, reverent oasis in the midst of the bustle of the city. Playing here always sharpened her game. The lack of noise and crowds helped her focus, gave her peace to consider other options. A far cry from the world outside its doors. Tokyo was many things, and she loved the city, but conducive to quiet contemplation was not high on the list.

_Does he work out? It’s just so… FIRM!_

She let out a sigh.

Of course there was always going to be some days she just couldn’t keep her mind on the game no matter where she was playing, and sadly this looked to be one them. Particularly when her mind seemed insistent on wandering off to strange places, and kept trying to drag her along for the ride.

_You watch him leave for a reason! Don't pretend othewise!_

She frowned and tried to ignore the little voice in her head that refused to let her focus.

In a way it was her own fault. She’d always had an over active imagination. Her father had tried to tame it so she could use it to her advantage when he taught her to play, but that had just led to her careful tactics on the board playing out in her mind as flashy action sequences and glowing special moves… and to occasional embarrassing outbursts when she got too excited, of course.

She’d been doing her best to reign those in, partly out of embarrassment, mostly since the professional shogi player’s association had some specific rules about table talk she’d already run afoul of. Apparently revealing her evil eye and striking down her opponent with the wrath of ages came quite close to ‘Acting to distract the opponent.’ And she was already on her second warning for that. So she was growing used to having her inner voice and outer one being a little at odds.

She stared down at the board, thinking.

Sadly, it was also getting quite distracting. She had wanted to spend the evening practicing. Maybe work on a new move or two. What she didn’t plan on doing was attempting to drag her wandering thoughts back on track every two seconds from whatever caught her attention. Or whoever.

_Ren, it was Ren. You can just admit it._

It was always Ren these days. Her student had proved to be far too much of a distraction to her lately.

She SHOULD be practicing. Her demonstration match against the pro player her mother had organised, the one she’d been told to LOSE, was looming. And as she had no intention of throwing that match she had a hard fight ahead of her, one that would become easier with study and practice.

So she should NOT, under any circumstances, be sitting here, wasting time thinking about her students butt.

_He did have a very nice…_

NO! BRAIN! Stop that! Ren would be horrified if he knew what she was thinking. He was her STUDENT! Her FRIEND!

_Who was a boy?_

Well, yes…

_Your boyfriend has a very nice…_

NO! She had to stop thinking that! He was NOT her boyfriend.

_… Yet._

She flushed at the thought.

Stop that. Besides…she’d never really put much thought into dating.

_Really? I remember things QUITE differently._

Sadly it was also making it very difficult to lie to herself.

Fine! So she had. A lot. A lot of thoughts. Most of which she would never, under pain of death admit to. Particularly to Ren.

_Like he’d care. I’m sure Ren would be flattered._

Or horrified. One of those. Neither was conducive to maintaining a good play environment.

_Depends on your definition of PLAY._

HEY!

She set up the board again, shifting the pieces to a scenario she had yet to beat. Hoping that would give her something to focus on that wasn’t related to her student.

_He has nice hands as well..._

She rubbed her eyes in frustration.

Maybe she needed to get more sleep? Her inner voice was sounding a touch…er… thirsty lately. It made her somewhat worried about her mental state… Maybe she could take a cold shower?

She moved a lance forward and considered what options would best benefit the puzzle before her. There was a number of potential moves, all with their own risks and rewards…

Ren would…

“ARGHHH! “

She buried her face in her hands. Ignoring the startled stare from the priest.

_That one wasn’t my fault._

Ren was a BEGINNER! His grasp of tactics was rudimentary, he barely knew how the pieces moved a few months ago and he STILL refused to sacrifice his pawns! Why should what he thought of her matter.

_Of HER? Nice Freudian slip there._ Her inner voice smirked almost as much as Ren!

Not of HER! Of the situation, the game! What he thought of her was a different matter entirely!

She moved a lance and frowned at the board.

What did he think of her?

Did it even matter? She probably wasn’t even his type!

She moved a pawn and chewed her lip.

Did he have a type?

Her time with Ren was typically one on one, except for their trips to Book Town of course, and she hadn’t noticed his eyes wandering during those. They’d more or less seemed fixed on her. It made it difficult to spot which girls caught his eye.

The only girl he’d even acknowledged was Makoto, and apparently he wasn’t dating her, Makoto had been very quick to assure her of that when they’d finally got a chance to play. With a rather odd smile on her face, strangely. She’d have to ask her about that.

Did that mean he wasn't interested in intelligent women?

_Maybe you could giggle more?_

She took a lance with her knight and threatened the opponents general. Ignoring the voice in her head.

Maybe he liked foreign girls? She had seen him and a group of people heading to the station one afternoon on her way home. There had been one girl amongst them who’d stood out like a sunflower in a field of poppies.

_Maybe you could dye your hair?_

She grumpily regarded a lock of her decidedly boring un-blonde hair held between her fingers then sighed as the absurdity of the thought struck her.

Firstly she didn’t even know for sure if he liked blondes! Secondly the school would have kittens if she dyed her hair.

They had enough comments lately about the press surrounding her. Which was only going to get worse once the story about her fixed matches came out. Dying her hair would just cause her trouble.

She moved a pawn.

Besides. If that blonde was his type it probably wasn’t due to her hair. Boys’ eyes had a tendency to…gravitate to certain features. The girl he’d been laughing with made a, AHEM, BIG impression on that front and nothing short of her buying a box of tissues or major surgery would adjust THOSE.

Again she frowned down at the board.

Not that she was BADLY endowed… Her figure was quite good, but her Japanese ancestry meant…

She caught herself adjusting her blouse.

NO! BRAIN, STOP THAT!

Embarrassed she hurriedly buttoned up her blazer and rubbed her eyes, sighing.

Maybe a break from the game was in order? Perhaps some schoolwork? She did have an essay she could work on. It had plenty of time before it was due but a change of focus couldn’t hurt.

She reached for her bag to pull out her notebook.

_Sure, let’s leave written proof of what was on our mind when it invariably wanders._

The book was shoved back into the bag in a rush. Drawing a confused look from the priest.

She’d stick to the shogi. Where the worst a loss of focus could inflict was to make her redo a move or two. She had a name to uphold! It wouldn’t do for a Togo to be scribbling love poems in her school books like some…

_Speaking of names, Amamiya was a nice name. It sat well. Rolled off the tongue. Ren Amamiya. Hifumi Ama…_

NO! BRAIN!

Being here this evening was NOT helping her focus. Maybe she should just go home? Call the entire day a loss and try again tomorrow?

A quick glance down at the phone lying next to her shogi board still showed no new messages.

It wasn’t like he had responded to her yet anyway.

That was the main reason she was still here, rather than at home doing something else to clear her head. She'd sent Ren a message this afternoon, inviting him to meet her, and here she was, waiting for him to respond.

Unfortunately for her Ren was a busy man. He always seemed to be working on something and barely seemed to have an evening available to talk to her these days… He was always at some part time job or another.

She had almost had a heart attack when she’d walked up to the register of the berry mart one day and he’d greeted her. At least she hadn’t been buying anything embarrassing or personal, she would have died.

It wasn’t like his replies were consistent when he wasn’t working either and it wasn’t even a guarantee of how far off he was.

Some days he’d reply that he was coming and a moment after she read the message he’d be standing there smirking at her.

Other times he’d tell her he was on the way and it would be an hour later and he walk in with a bag full of odd shopping that he’d tuck away and not acknowledge.

Then sometimes he didn’t reply at all, he’d just show up and she’d look up from the board and meet his eyes and… just get lost, for a second.

She liked those days.

_He has such nice eyes as well._

He really did. His eyes were so guarded, like he was always planning something. Working on a strategy she couldn’t see. Behind those glasses of his that didn’t distort her view of his eyes enough for them to be anything but fake.

For her that was attractive enough. But then, once in a while she’d make a comment or a joke and the guard would be gone and his eyes would light with amusement before he would drop his defences back into place with a clang.

Come to think of it the first time that happened was when that little voice of hers had started fangirling. Humph.

_Oh, and you’re any better? Who’s the one buying fashion magazines?_

I was in it! The date article was entirely a coincidence!

_Sure… And that new perfume?_

I ran out of my old one!

_How about that new set of underwear. A bit…Fancier than usual. Who were you planning on showing that to? Does his name start with REN?_

Look! I have better things to do than argue with myself over this! I’m not allowed to date anyway!

_Aren’t you? You know Mother has changed her tune… You’re free of the idol! Free to return to shogi and your student life! And what is a student life without a little romance?_

She was beginning to suspect that little voice of her was trying to get her into trouble. It was always pushing her to break the rules, ANY rules. She’d never been that much of a rebel, had she?

She turned back to the game. Moving a few pieces and pointedly ignoring the annoying little voice singing about her and Ren and their relative proximity to a tree and each other.

It was right about one thing, though. Her mother had suddenly dropped her push to make her famous. It was odd. She’d just… folded. Apologised. Came clean and begged her forgiveness. That was part of what she’d wanted to talk to Ren about.

It was… suspicious. Very suspicious. Hifumi frowned.

She’d been tied in knots about it for weeks, and then suddenly, boom, all her problems disappeared like smoke. Well, all the problems that came directly from her mother at least. There was still the matter of her tarnished reputation to clear up. That was going to be a battle but after her mother’s change of heart she…

The thought made her pause.

Change of heart. That was a turn of phrase.

Her hand froze, the move she was making forgotten. Her brain switching over to strategy mode with a click.

She’d sat in this pew and played out a hundred, hundred moves. And not a single one had led her to a good solution. There was always one piece blocking her way to victory.

Her mother.

And then it had all changed in an instant... She’d been shaken when her mother had finally admitted to what she’d done. Stage managing her victories, her defeats. Choosing both to some twisted plan to make her into the perfect saleable idol. To get the most return from her investment. Like her daughter was more of a product than a person.

It was like she’d said to Ren…

She finished the move and shifted another lance.

That was right… She’d talked to Ren about it. And he’d sat there and listened and, although that was all he could do, that had helped her spirits more than any of her plans.

He’d dropped his guard then. He looked so sad, angry…Determined…?

And then he’d asked her mother’s name.

Why?

She shifted a pawn.

Did he…Did he do something?

She shook her head at the thought.

That was preposterous. Ren hadn’t been near her mother since they’d met.

Since she’d looked at him like he was trash, and then turned to her daughter and told her she could get fifty like him once she was popular.

The look on Ren’s face had twisted her stomach, because he looked like he’d agreed with her mother for a second.

Nobody as kind as him should ever have that look in their eyes.

It worried her.

Besides. Her mother had gone from sending her a text reminding her about a photoshoot to apologising in tears when she’d come through the door over the course of an hour. There was no time for him to do anything.

It was like…magic.

She moved her general.

No.

Magic doesn’t exist. That was for stories and her the thrilling victories and battles in her mind. The real world was wooden pieces on a board, planned moves and executed strategies. It had to be something else.

_Like the Phantom thieves?_

She stiffened as a thought occurred to her.

She mentioned that to Ren as well…

Did…Did he post her mother’s name to the forum? Was that why he wanted her name?

She scrambled to her phone and searched frantically through the Phan-site. So many names. So many people calling for help. Why would they have picked her from amongst them…?

There it was.

Mitsuyo Togo, chosen for the crime of ruining her daughter’s reputation, controlling her life.

A single short reply saying the Phantom thieves would see the injustice righted. The heart taken.

Ren had…

Something caught her eye.

Wait. Posted by….Admin?

What?

She stared at the post in confusion.

Posted by admin and accepted almost immediately. Like it was a foregone conclusion…

_Because the one who posted it knew it had been accepted already._

This hadn’t been chosen from the forums. It had been chosen and then DISPLAYED on the forum. Timestamped under an hour before her mother’s change.

This had bypassed the mechanism, gone straight to the source.

Straight to the Phantom thieves… But how? Nobody knew who they were.

She reached out and moved a knight, taking a defensive pawn.

Someone had to know. The thieves knew.

What did she know about them?

The Phantom Thieves had first appeared at Shujin, hadn’t they? Some horrible monster of a teacher was their first target… So it made sense that someone who attended the school might be able to contact them. She’d heard whispers about it in April.

She moved her general again.

That was just after Ren had moved to Tokyo.

And not long before they’d targeted Madarame, and Kitagawa had become the centre of attention for a while.

Come to think of it Ren had mentioned that Yusuke had sent him her way when he’d expressed an interest in shogi tactics. Funny, she hadn’t had much to do with Yusuke at all. All she could remember was the time he’d spilled solvent when cleaning his brushes in an assembly and they’d had to evacuate the hall…

So many coincidences here…

She frowned down at the board, her brain ticking away.

No.

She didn’t believe in coincidences. Not like this. Not so many and so quickly. This wasn’t random, her intuition insisted that it was a strategy. She just wasn’t looking at it the right way yet.

She moved a pawn.

Maybe she was just on the wrong side of the board?

Pawn takes lance.

Maybe it hadn’t been Ren that had gone to the Phantom thieves for help.

She shifted her lance. Pinning the opponent’s king in a trap it couldn’t escape.

_Maybe it had been her?_

Checkmate.

She’d gone to Ren. Her mother had changed.

What if Ren was a Phantom Thief?

If she assumed that all the strange coincidences and confusing questions just disappeared.

Deep breaths. Hifumi. Deep breaths. This is all still just speculation. You need proof. You need to make a move and see how he reacts.

Then you can decide what to do.

Normally when she spotted the strategy an opponent was following it was a triumphant moment. She could see what steps they’d taken, and why. How they’d move from now on. Unless they were a very good opponent it was the point she won the game.

She’d could now decide when to break them. Which moves to allow, which to deny so they thought they were winning, but really they were moving themselves into position for her so she could defeat them at her leisure.

But it didn't feel like Ren was her opponent in this game, and if she could spot his strategy so could the people looking for him.

He’d taken a terrible risk to protect her, and she’d spotted the pattern. How many other times had he done it? How many would it take for the police to make the same deductions she had?

She reached into her bag for a notebook.

She needed to plot out some advanced tactics just in case.

If he was a Phantom thief, he was in a lot more trouble than she thought possible. Kakoi Kuzushi alone wasn’t going to cut it, it was far too slow. Time to break out the Touryou… And… maybe that variant on Koma Sabaki her father had come up with… She had no idea how shogi tactics were pertinent to changing hearts but if Ren needed her she couldn’t let him down.

She absentmindedly began resetting the board. Trying very hard to keep her hands steady.

Where was that voice to distract her when she needed it? She’d have almost welcomed the teasing!

Shouldn’t it be popping up? Nagging her, getting her confused into thinking about her name being Hifumi…

“Togo-san?”

“No, Amamiya.” She responded without thinking.

Then she froze, realising she’d said that out loud.

“Sorry, is this not a good time?”

Slowly she raised her eyes and met Ren’s confused gaze.

_Other than the fact I almost called myself “Hifumi Amamiya” directly to your face and now I may wet myself? No, it’s perfect._

Oh good, the voice was back. That was sure to help.

She scrambled her composure back into place.

“Not at all, Amamiya-kun. I was just thinking about a puzzle whose solution has been eluding me.”

“Anything I can help with?”

_Oh I can think of a thing or two you could do for me..._

But then he took a step and the voice fell silent.

He was hurt.

It was subtle. He was good at hiding it, but she had an eye for weaknesses in her opponents and had spent a lot of time watching him.

He had a limp. Something with his right foot, ball, not heel. His bag was also on the wrong shoulder, his right one seemed stiff. There was also a slight hint of a bruise on his neck, and the bags under his eyes were more pronounced than she’d ever seen them.

His ‘part time job’ had been rough on him lately, hadn’t it?

Was that because of her?

She clasped her hands in her lap to stop them shaking.

_Hold it together Togo. Can’t lose this one now. Besides, he is potentially a wanted criminal. You know that. It’s bound to be dangerous._

You KEEP OUT OF IT!

_Awww, is that space between BOY and FRIEND tripping you up?_

YES! Damn it! I like him, Ok! I don’t want him hurt for my sake!

_FINALLY! Now you’ve admitted it we can get to work._

She felt the panic melt away, replaced with the calm she usual felt when playing shogi.

_Game face on Togo. We have a strategy to test._

“You said in your message something had happened?”

Ren’s guard was firmly up, but there was something in his eyes she couldn't read.

Time to make her move.

“Well my mother finally talked to me….”

She kept her eyes fixed on the board.

“She told me that… most of my matches thus far had been fixed in my favour…”

She flicked her eyes from the board and met his.

Relief, a brief relaxation of his guard and not even a hint of surprise. He'd known EXACTLY what she was going to talk about.

Well, that answered that question.

_Congratulations! Your boyfriend is a Phantom thief. Talk about having a thing for bad boys! This one is actually being hunted by the police!_

Now what to do with the knowledge? Better finish the story first, otherwise she’d give herself away.

“She also admitted she was the one who sold that story the weekly magazine… I.. had no idea. I feel so ashamed…However, thinking back, I do recall some of my opponents making poor moves at odd times…”

“I’ve always wanted people to recognize my shogi skills… but I suppose I never had any.”

She smiled sadly.

“I became so conceited as a result of all those fake victories…”

_Now to be sure._

“Why did my mother confess all of a sudden? It’s as if she had a change of heart…”

She paused as if in thought.

“A change of heart… The Phantom Thieves!?”

A flick of her eyes to Ren. Guard firmly in place. Looking surprisingly tense for a friendly game of shogi.

“… That can’t be. Perhaps they eavesdropped on our conversation?”

Not a flicker in his guard. But the tension eased.

Then he spoke.

“I’m glad her heart changed.” He met her eyes and smiled.

_He has such a nice smile too._

Yes he does… and he’s far smarter than he lets on.

He hadn’t missed her probing attack, and that one of his own took her by surprise. He hadn’t lied, a good choice since he was terrible at bluffing. He also didn’t dismiss her musings outright.

His reply was honest, sincere and nothing to do with the topic at hand but probing her with a question of his own.

How did she feel about her mother’s change?

“Yes. It was painful to hear the truth, but I’m glad that my mother had a change of heart.”

The ghost of a smile flickered around his lips and he relaxed, like he’d finished a hard job and the results were worth the wait.

_So however he did it, he wasn’t sure it had worked? By the looks of it you just made his day._

He got himself that hurt and he didn't even know it would work... IDIOT.

She moved a piece and set her jaw. 

“I’ve decided… I’m not going to lose.”

“Lose what?”

You.

_FINALLY you’re willing to fight! You are in for a hell of a battle now, mister. You think this girl is bad when it’s a shogi match on the line. You haven’t seen anything yet!_

She held his eye for a long second, but didn’t quite have the courage to say it out loud.

“Oh sorry! I was referring to the exhibition match… I’m going through with it, as planned. However, before that, I’m going to confess everything. I know I’ll receive a lot of criticism… but I must ensure the truth is known. This next match will showcase my true talents. I don’t know how it’s going to go… but I hope you’ll watch. As your teacher, I promise to put up a good fight so I don’t embarrass myself.”

She took a deep breath.

“… I would be lying if I told you that I’m not scared. My kingdom is a house of cards… I’m not sure if it can withstand a true battle. However, I intend to fight with dignity to the very end, as a queen should.”

_Holding interviews for the role of my King, any takers?_

She nearly dropped the piece she was moving but did her best to recover.

“There’s a new move I’d like to test out for the exhibition… Will you stay for another game?”

He nodded.

She bowed to him and smiled.

“Please come at me with all you have…That is, if you can get past the valiant knights who guard my Togo Kingdom!”

* * *

“I see, so there is still room for improvement. I’d like to do this again sometime, Ren.”

His name slipped out before she could stop it. She kept her eyes on the board to hide her embarrassment.

THAT WAS YOUR FAULT, BRAIN!

_Move’s made, Togo. No redoes! If it’s a good or bad move depends if you win. Play on._

“I'm...sorry?”

“Oh, excuse me! That was presumptuous. I just thought… we’ve been playing for long enough now that we didn’t need the formality. I’m sorry.”

She looked up and met his eyes and froze.

The noise his guard made as it fell on the floor and shattered almost drowned out her heart thumping.

Ren was BLUSHING and there was a lot in his eyes he’d never let her see before. Good thing too, if he had looked at her like that every time they played she’d have spent a lot of time after matches having to lie down.

Oh god, he liked her too. It was written all over his face.

She had no idea what to do about that fact since now most of her brain seemed to have shut down.

He slammed his guard back up in panic and went on the offensive.

“That’s fine with me, do you prefer Hifumi-chan or Hifumi-san?”

How had it taken her so long to realise he was a Phantom thief? That smirk was criminal!

She could just see him in a tuxedo and domino mask, maybe with a long coat? Oh, and gloves. He had to have gloves… Did he own a pair? Maybe she could get him some?

_That can wait for now. And two can play at this game._

“Just Hifumi is fine.”

He blinked in surprise.

“Are you sure? We wouldn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea.”

Her own smirk was nowhere near his calibre, but it had its uses.

“No, we wouldn’t, Ren.”

He dropped his bag on his foot, and then hopped in surprise at the sudden pain.

_Got him!_

* * *

She sat staring at the board considering her next move after Ren had made a rather shaky exit.

The fizzing fireworks in her head were making it even harder to focus than her annoying inner voice.

Was that how he felt when he teased her? No wonder he kept doing it.

But all of that was unimportant right now.

What was… was that he liked her.

SHE WAS HIS TYPE!

She fought down the urge to dance.

Her plan for the exhibition match was going on the back burner. First she had to work out how to beat this new game…

As far as she could see she had two possible moves.

She could tell him she liked…

That she wanted to…

That…

_Oh for crying out loud! That you want to bang him!_

BRAIN! NO!

_You don’t?_

NO! Well… NOT YET!

_…Can I?_

BRAIN!

She took a deep breath.

She could tell him she wanted to…date…him. Given how difficult it was to say that to herself. That option was going to take some working up to. She was already feeling lightheaded.

Her only other option was to wait for him to ask her.

Say she asked him to… to… She ASKED him, once she got her brain to get past that stumbling block of course. Then the next move was on him. He either accepted or turned her down. Which would he pick?

She reviewed what she knew of her opponent.

He was smart, flexible, dedicated, he cared for others and he would go out of his way, at great risk to himself, to protect people who couldn’t protect themselves.

_Plus he has a nice butt._

Thank you, brain, he does, but that’s not pertinent right now. Because she already knew him well enough to guess the answer to this one.

If she asked him he would turn her down.

Because he would try and protect her and dating him was probably the most dangerous thing she could possibly do.

_So you’re just going to give up?_

Don’t be silly. I’m just laying out the board. This is where we START playing.

She frowned down at the board, and moved a piece.

So if she couldn’t ask him she just needed him to ask her and it had to be his idea. So how did you get someone selfless to make a selfish request like that?

That one was simple, the same way you made any opponent do what you wanted.

You made them take four steps when they were only expecting to take one.

You threw them off balance and made them act on instinct. So that they scrambled to catch up and then you guided them down the path you wanted before they came to their senses.

Hopefully, before they realised that was what you were doing.

How best to go about it? He clearly enjoyed spending time with her. He valued her tactics. He was willing to put himself at risk to protect her.

_Now we threaten to take that all away._

Yes.

A three pronged attack, he’d loses access to her tactics, he’d leave her unprotected and he wouldn’t get to see her anymore. She’d push him off balance and pray.

And she happened to have the perfect opportunity coming up… After the exhibition match she’d throw herself on her sword, win or lose. Say it would be their last game. To save him from her and her stained reputation.

Put him in a position where letting her go would hurt her more than keeping her close.

Make him protect her from herself.

It would be a risky play. So many things could go wrong… But she always was a gambler at heart.

And if she wanted to win his, she had to let it ride.

She nodded happily at the board and began to pack it away.

_There’s the queen of the battlefield! But are you sure you want to do it this way? I would have laid money on you wanting the fairy tale romance._

In a perfect world she would have. There was something to be said for a traditional courtship…

But she wasn’t a silly little girl, this was far from a perfect world.

Ren had been playing a very dangerous game, one she’d be damned if she let him lose because his misplaced nobility pushing her away. She already needed to teach him to be a bit more subtle when he helped people.

She wasn’t letting him walk away from her. Even if that did give her a good view of his butt.

It really was very nice…

She dropped her board into her bag and stood to leave.

_Well if all else fails you can just hug him and cry. Try not to look pathetic._

Brain…

_Or kiss him. You saw his face. You kiss him and he’s going to fall to pieces. You will too, but it’s an option._

She felt her cheeks heat up at the thought.

That can be plan C.

She pushed open the door and headed out into the evening air.

_In which plan do we show off the new lingerie?_

She was going to go home and have a LONG SLEEP. Something to put this silly voice to rest. She needed to focus.

Honestly, arguing with a voice in her head. She was certain Ren never spoke to voices in his head. Bleh!

* * *

Ren Amamiya sat on a seat on the train with his face in his hands.

**_< That was PATHETIC.>_ **

“Shut up Arsene.”

He closed his eyes and leant his head back on the window.

**_< Honestly, after all we’ve been through this year I thought it would take more than a pretty girl saying your name to make you lose your composure! At least that strategist of yours seems to have a thing for clumsy puppies so you may not have destroyed your chances with her.>_ **

“It probably would have been better if I had.”

**_< Oh boo hoo. A beautiful, intelligent women finds you attractive. That is a good thing! You’re a Phantom thief, boy, not a monk. Besides, you’ve surrounded yourself with strong women, and I doubt this one will let you try to run her off without a fight. One you very well might lose, given the lady in question… No, I think you may have a relationship in your future... You DO know how relationships work, correct?>_ **

“We are not having this conversation.” Ren tried to ignore him.

**_< Oh but we must! Clearly someone has been remiss in your training! Charming a suitable women is high on the skillset of a Phantom Thief! I blame your school. The standard of education in that place is suspect. Some of the questions they ask in class… tsk tsk. But not to worry, trickster! I am here to correct your sorry educational flaws!>_ **

“I am going to fuse you into something horrible if you don’t shut up.”

**_< Now then, when a trickster and a strategist like each other VERY much…>_ **

Ren groaned and banged his head on the window, clearly this was going to be a long trip.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a hell of a year...
> 
> Sorry if this piece is a bit rough. I've a dozen pieces sitting on my drive just refusing to come together. I needed to get something DONE, and out. 
> 
> Hope you have a happy holidays, and that the new year treats you a bit better than this last one.  
> Have fun, Folks.


End file.
